The main goal of choosing to take ownership of the issue to begin with was ensuring everybody could get back to work and resume pre-crisis levels of productivity and pride in their jobs. Don’t allow an issue to define you, or the organization. Everybody has lots to do – especially you. While you have to learn from your mistakes, avoid comparing every situation to the crises of yesterday. Stop yourself from reminding everybody constantly of what has already transpired. The issue occurred. You took responsibility for it, held people accountable and, with everybody’s help, you fixed it. You pledged not to make the same mistake again. It’s in your rearview. Keep it there. And get back to the exciting work of creating enduring value for all your stakeholders.

The next time you’re in the midst of a crisis, don’t try to deflect, or underestimate people, or nitpick about whose fault it was. Choose to take responsibility as the leader. Own the problem, take a hard-nosed approach, hold people accountable, present a solution, get to work, and don’t make the same mistake twice. You’ll stave off disaster, fix problems faster, build trust, and get better results.

Organizations have always needed leaders who are good at recognizing emerging challenges and inspiring organizational responses. That need is intensifying today as leaders confront, among other things, digitization, the surging power of data as a competitive weapon, and the ability of artificial intelligence to automate the workplace and enhance business performance. These technology-driven shifts create an imperative for most organizations to change, which in turn demands more and better leaders up and down the line.

Unfortunately, there is overwhelming evidence that the plethora of services, books, articles, seminars, conferences, and TED-like talks purporting to have the answers—a global industry estimated to be worth more than $50 billion—are delivering disappointing results. According to a recent Fortune survey, only 7 percent of CEOs believe their companies are building effective global leaders, and just 10 percent said that their leadership-development initiatives have a clear business impact. Our latest research has a similar message: only 11 percent of more than 500 executives we polled around the globe strongly agreed with the statement that their leadership-development interventions achieve and sustain the desired results.

In our survey, we asked executives to tell us about the circumstances in which their leadership-development programs were effective and when they were not. We found that much needs to happen for leadership development to work at scale, and there is no “silver bullet” that will singlehandedly make the difference between success and failure

David Hain's insight:

McKinsey survey confirms my own much less formal conclusion from clients - leadership development needs context, reach and especially follow-through to be really meaningful.

When you multitask, you tend to make more mistakes. When you toggle back and forth between tasks, the neural networks of your brain must backtrack to figure out where they left off and then reconfigure, Dr. Miller said. That extra activity causes you to slow down, and errors become more likely.

“People are much more efficient if they monotask,” he said.

Trying to multitask also impedes creativity, he said. Truly innovative thinking arises when we allow our brains to follow a logical path of associated thoughts and ideas, and this is more likely when we can focus on a single mental pathway for an extended period.

The brain is like a muscle: It becomes stronger with use, Dr. Miller said. As with physical exercise, the more we strengthen our mental connections by focusing on one task to the exclusion of all others, the better we can perform.

Over the past 20 years CEOs have witnessed tremendous upheavals as a result of globalisation and technological change. In our 20th CEO Survey, nearly 1,400 CEOs share their views on the impact of these forces on growth, talent, trust and society. In this short video, PwC’s global chairman Bob Moritz, reflects on how today we’re at an inflection point; for leaders it’s now time to both raise and communicate the role of business in society and the positive impact it can have.

When you ask CEO’s and CHRO’s what their key priorities are for the coming year, talent management always is one of the issues high on the list. Talent management is an easy and safe choice. Nobody will argue that talent management is not important. Supervisory Boards love to talk about succession and talent management. Talent management is generally seen as something long-term. When you hear terms as “strategic”, “long-term”, “future” and “investment”, you must be careful. For talent management this means: it is important, but not urgent. For the CEO, it means: I have ticked the box, but now HR can deal with it. Of course, I will visit the final session of the senior management program, of course, I will personally mentor one or two high potentials, but please, do not bother me too much about talent management, I have more urgent matters on my plate. A big challenge for organisations is to make talent management urgent, and to make it a priority of today, not of the future.

David Hain's insight:

Tom Haak of HR Trend Institute on how to get more form your talent in 2017.

Big trend is to focus on today ... it is no longer necessary to divide the workforce in crude segments (“High Potentials”, “Middle Management”, “The older employees”). Moved people based on today, give potentials a chance earlier and have an organic approach to development .

To lead a good life, we need to make good decisions: manage our health and financial affairs, invest in appropriate relationships, and avoid serious lapses like falling for online scams. What equips us to do this? One candidate is IQ: after all, people who score higher on intelligence tests tend to go on to do better academically and in their careers. But many of us know intellectual titans who still make grave errors of judgment in their lives. Book-smart doesn’t necessarily make you life-smart, and a new article in the journal Thinking Skills and Creativity examines the utility of IQ in navigating existence, and how another mental ability may put it in the shade.

Whereas IQ is – crudely speaking – a measure of the mental horsepower we have for handling abstract content, some researchers say that “critical thinking” – the ability to make judgments dispassionately without jumping to false conclusions – is a separate ability. To find out if critical thinking ability might be important for real-life outcomes, perhaps even more than IQ, Heather Butler of California State University and her colleagues asked 244 participants – a mix of students and adults recruited online – to complete tests, of their IQ and critical thinking skills.

David Hain's insight:

More evidence that just being bright doesn't't fully cut the mustard for success. And critical thinking skills can be taught and developed!

Another common mistake that Dr Goldsmith observes in leaders is the penchant for "adding too much value". Or, put another way, the bad habit of wanting to add one's two cents worth in every discussion.

"For example, a young, smart and enthusiastic worker comes up to you with an idea. You think it's great. Instead of saying it's a great idea and leaving it at that, your natural tendency is to say - why not add this or change this instead?" he says.

While it may seem to be better for all parties if ideas are improved upon, Dr Goldsmith says it is not always the case.

He explains that the problem with this is that the quality of the idea may go up by 5 per cent, but the commitment of the young worker to execute it will go down by 50 per cent. That's because it is no longer the young man's idea, but the leader's.

"We get so wrapped up trying to improve the quality this much, but we damage the commitment even more," says Dr Goldsmith.

When our top performers, our really strong team members, and our best front-line workers know we’ve incorporated continuous coaching opportunities as a means for growth (and eventual advancement), there is natural spike in productivity, effectiveness, and efficiency. When our people know we want to provide continuous room for development for their benefit, it’s quite pleasing to see how well they respond.

One of the easiest ways to do this is to adopt a culture of coaching in our workplace.

Everyone benefits from coaching. A quick google search of your favorite renowned leaders, artists, or performers will prove that many willingly declare to consistently retaining a dedicated coach.

If you aren’t already doing so, the great news is that it’s never too late.

David Hain's insight:

Coaching is for everybody to develop their potential. If you see it as only for problem-children you are missing out on a huge opportunity!

Coaching should be the basic driver of every corporate structure. It should be part of the DNA regardless of size or industry. It does not mean that structure goes completely away, just that attitudes shift to allow for innovation, adaptation and execution!

So many leaders undervalue and overlook the value does to transform of coaching to transform people and organizations. Coaching is a simple skill , leveraging other perspectives moves the needle I see it in my own coaching where my leaders exceed their goals by 14% over a three year period collectively.

Resilience matters. In fact, it’s become pretty much the No.1 topic in management and leadership circles. We’re all supposed to be made of Teflon. We’re supposed to be able to cope with the crap that the world (and the world of work) chucks at us. And if we can’t cope we’re supposed to pop off to the hot yoga studio to sweat it out. Or colour-in a complex series of geomantic shapes in super bright fluoro colours. Mindfulness has become the talk of the town and the chief chatter in the office.

However, I can’t help but think that all this is missing the mark when it comes to resilience.

Gradually, the increased interest in resilience as a construct in recent years has seemed to shift the focus away from poor behaviour and poor culture and onto the victim of the poor behaviour and poor culture.

The rise of resilience is all too frequently leading to something sinister and something that needs rejecting out of hand; victim blaming.

Instead of the focus being on the poor manager or on the terrible culture and on the toll that these things take on those who experience them, it’s now much more frequently on the way that the staff can learn to cope with these ‘things’. It’s as if the answer to working for a bully or working in a culture that is less than ideal is to pop off at lunchtime to do some Tai Chi in the local park. And breathe. You’ll feel better equipped to cope with your bullying boss in the afternoon.

Everybody loves a top 100 list. It could be the best dog breeds, best cities to live in, or in this case, the highest rated CEOs. I love Glassdoor's annual list of the top 100 highest rated CEOs because it's based on how the employees of major corporations value their most senior leader.

This year the highest-rated CEO was Benno Dorer from the Clorox Company. Most people are surprised the CEO of a global company that sells brand names like Kingsford Charcoal, Brita water filters, and Hidden Valley salad dressing tops the list.

We sometimes forget, as people who are enamored with the latest and greatest, that great leaders aren't just in technology companies. Sure we love glamorous examples like Elon Musk or Tim Cook but great leaders can be present in any industry, "glamorous" or not.

David Hain's insight:

Here is a leader who can obviously live these good practices, not just spout them!

It can be tempting to dismiss it as time-consuming or handholding, but both of those assumptions are mistaken. In his book, The Coaching Habit, Michael Bungay Stanier gives busy leaders advice on how to coach effectively.

In ten minutes or less, you can ask strategic and thought-provoking questions that can help drive beneficial changes in behavior, help build team cohesiveness, and get things done effectively.

Here are his seven questions to add to your coaching toolbox to make your life easier and get big results.

David Hain's insight:

Some really excellent coaching questions here, for professional coaches and managers alike!

Shadow work can be done in a wide variety of ways, including reflection, meditation or journaling.

There is no right way to do this vulnerable work, the key thing is you use a practice that enables you to be profoundly honest with your shadow, explore it with perspective and transcend it in a generative way.

One practice we particularly like is the 3–2–1 shadow process developed by Diane Hamilton. Its called the 3–2–1 Process because it “uses shifts in perspective as a way of identifying and integrating shadow material. 3–2–1 refers to 3rd-person, 2nd-person, and 1st-person”. This practice has 3 parts.

Face it — Locate the shadow within your mind and body. Don’t judge it, just be mindful of it and look at it from every angle in the 3rd person.Talk with it — Ask your shadow, why are you here in the 2nd person. What do you want to do with me?Be it — Switch roles, become your shadow (1st person). Speak back to yourself by embodying your shadow.We are whole people living in whole contexts. Opening up to the gifts of being whole — both our light and our shadow — is vital to living life rich with wellbeing and wholeness.

David Hain's insight:

You're never without your shadow - and this post demonstrates how valuable it is to you!

Startup Land, the place where I've been living for the past year, is full of ridiculous jargon. I thought I'd start a list to give those of you who have never been to Startup Land or are planning on holidaying there in the future, a brief understanding of the lingo in the hope that you'll be able to communicate with the locals. If you're a current resident of Startup Land, feel free to add your own.

Barton and Halberstadt say:People’s names, like shape names, are not entirely arbitrary labels. Face shapes produce expectations about the names that should denote them, and violations of those expectations … feed into more complex social judgments, including voting decisions.Leaders emerge through promotion for hard work, securing votes for political office, or physically intimidating their underlings. But research is now showing that a distinctive face, one which advertises qualities that are rare in your organisation, or a face congruent with your name, may play a bigger role in our success than we previously imagined.

Where does the algorithm see you in 10 years? This was the intriguing title in a recent Fortune Magazine article by Jennifer Alseven. In it she gave an example of how Artificial Intelligence (AI) software helped an overwhelmed CEO of a rapidly growing company with sifting through towering stacks of résumés.

The software helped speed up the vetting process by providing online simulations of what applicants might do on their first day as an employee.

Companies are using AI to assess human qualities, drawing on research to analyse everything from word choice and micro gestures to psycho-emotional traits and the tone of social media posts.

So what does this mean for the coaching profession?

In this edition we try to answer that question by taking an in-depth look at AI and the possible effects it can have on coaching.

How can we prepare ourselves and turn this challenge into an opportunity?

David Hain's insight:

AI will disrupt most industries. Articles here on what that might mean might mean for coaches and coaching.

We often say that America is an experiment. But what is it an experiment in? Some will say “freedom”, but you can’t really say a country that’s been unsegregated for less than 25% of its history is an experiment in freedom. I think America is an experiment of a different kind. One that reveals a great truth about political economy to history and the world.It is an experiment in the survival of the fittest.

David Hain's insight:

Persuasive polemic from Umair Haque about America's failings. May as well be referring to neoliberalism the world over, many echoes in today's UK...

This is a review of one of my favorite books of all time, “The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness”, which was just released by my dear friend, Lolly Daskal. It has already reached numerous bestseller lists, Lolly has been called “The Most Inspiring Woman in The World” by Huffington Post, and designated a Top 50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. Magazine. After decades of advising and inspiring some of the most eminent chief executives in the world, Lolly Daskal has uncovered a startling pattern: within each leader are powerful abilities that are also hidden impediments to greatness. In this book, she reveals her proven system, which leaders at any level can apply to dramatically improve their results.

David Hain's insight:

New book by Lolly Daskal is essential reading for leaders. Brief review here.

It’s probably happened more than once: You spend a lot of time trying to convince someone that their opinion on a particular issue is wrong. You take pains to make sure your argument is air-tight. But instead of coming around to your point of view, your conversation partner pushes back, still convinced of her ultimate rightness. “What do you mean poor people need social programs? They have the same opportunities as everyone else!” By the end of your debate, you’re faced with the same stalemate you had at the beginning—and your relationship may be feeling the strain.

Why is it so hard to convince others to change their minds?

David Hain's insight:

How (and why) to engage in genuine dialogue rather than playing advocacy ping pong!

Twenty years ago today - 26 June 1997 - the first book by a struggling author about the magical tribulations of an orphaned schoolboy was published. Despite the faith that JK Rowling had in young Harry, it is unlikely she or anyone else could have anticipated that the the book, its sequels and their films would spawn a $25 billion dollar franchise.

Two decades after release it is clear that Rowling’s work has captured the imagination of an entire generation. In Britain, four in five (81%) 18-24 year-olds and over two in three (68%) 25-34 year-olds say they are fans of the Harry Potter books, films or both. (The figure for the population as a whole is 51%.)

In honour of this milestone for the boy wizard, YouGov has conducted a special Harry Potter survey.

David Hain's insight:

A bit of Harry Potter fun from YouGov that might just tell us a lot about what people value in others! HT Adam Grant.

Both neoliberalism and neoconservatism are totalitarian ideologies of market fundamentalism. They offered people a radically different social contract than anywhere else in the world. Not just the rich world. The whole world. That social contract said: every good in society will be financialized, privates-sectored, optimized for profit. Every single one — from healthcare to education to transport.Now, the problem to thinking people is obvious. The point of an economy isn’t profit. It’s human potential. To optimize a social contract for profit isn’t just extremism — it is folly. A life or a society or a city is not a company. A company can make profits and call itself succesful. But a city or a country or a town or a family cannot. Its “success” rests on bringing forth people’s potential in concrete ways: to let them live long, happy, creative, prosperous, sane lives, full of relationships, accomplishments, dreams, little mercies, great passions.

David Hain's insight:

Why the anglo, neoliberal (clue) world is failing. What a fall from the heights...

A recent study by researchers at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Chicago and published by the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests we might have been looking at our leaders all wrong. In their study of 4,591 CEOs, they found that companies run by introverted CEOs outperformed their peers. In fact, publicly traded companies run by extroverts averaged a 2% lower return on assets.It’s crazy, right?I mean, extroversion is great. We love extroverts — they’re entertaining, inspiring and fun to be around.Even so, it seems that introverts might still have the edge when it comes to business prowess. How can this be?

David Hain's insight:

If you worry about being introverted/lacking charisma, read this and play to your strengths!

Many companies confuse purpose, vision and mission statements, often using them interchangeably, blurring their true meaning.

Purpose is what guides you. It articulates why you do what you do, why your organisation exists.Mission is what drives you. It is the strategic path your organisation follows to fulfil your vision.Vision is what you aspire to. It is the destination it you wish to reach, the state into which you hope to transform over time.In other words, Purpose is your why. Mission is your how. Vision is your where and what.

Merely looking at what worked in the past will not solve the interconnected challenges we face today. Truly purpose-driven organisations are built on future needs rather than best practices. To become tomorrow’s company, leaders must have the courage to invent future practices, which go beyond today’s predominant management principles. Leaders need to learn from early adopters in this field to progress their thinking, learning, behaving and being.

While our technology changes at an incredible rate, the brain evolves slowly, allowing for the vast amount of existing cognitive-science research on how the brain takes in information. To create powerful learning experiences, it’s helpful to understand how the brain works. Translating research into meaningful, evidence-based practices, programs, and policies is crucial for learning and development professionals seeking to gain the most impact out of their endeavors.

The five methods by which the brain processes information below will put you on track to improve your own learning and development initiatives.

The DDI report reveals a dire need for leaders with the skill of empathy. Only four out of 10 frontline leaders assessed in their massive study were proficient or strong on empathy.

Richard S. Wellins, senior vice president of DDI and one of the authors of the High-Resolution Leadership report, had this to say in a Forbes interview a year ago:

We feel [empathy] is in serious decline. More concerning, a study of college students by University of Michigan researchers showed a 34 percent to 48 percent decline in empathic skills over an eight-year period. These students are our future leaders!

We feel there are two reasons that account for this decline. Organizations have heaped more and more on the plates of leaders, forcing them to limit face-to-face conversations. Again, DDI research revealed that leaders spend more time managing than they do "interacting." They wish they could double their time spent interacting with others. The second reason falls squarely on the shoulders of technology, especially mobile smart devices. These devices have become the de rigueur for human interactions. Sherry Turkle, in her book, Reclaiming Conversation, calls them "sips of conversations."

Empathy and emotional intelligence are essential to leading and performing. Central to these are face-to-face conversations with people and providing people with time for conversations, instead of relying on digital tools and social media. Sherry Turkle refers to those as "sips of conversation."

Sharing your scoops to your social media accounts is a must to distribute your curated content. Not only will it drive traffic and leads through your content, but it will help show your expertise with your followers.

Integrating your curated content to your website or blog will allow you to increase your website visitors’ engagement, boost SEO and acquire new visitors. By redirecting your social media traffic to your website, Scoop.it will also help you generate more qualified traffic and leads from your curation work.

Distributing your curated content through a newsletter is a great way to nurture and engage your email subscribers will developing your traffic and visibility.
Creating engaging newsletters with your curated content is really easy.